1951 Football Team

Inducted 2005. Finished with a 7-1 record and a Mid-West Conference championship.

The 1951 football team put together one of the most remarkable seasons on the gridiron in the history of the school, finishing with a 7-1 record and a Mid-West Conference championship.

Followers of the team figured something special was about to happen when the Raiders opened with a 14-6 victory over a Carthage team that went 8-0 the previous season. Shutout victories over Havana and Macomb followed, but possibly the most memorable victory was a 28-22 decision over Quincy High School before a full house that sat through the rain at Q-Stadium. The Blue Devils had 11-1-3 edge in the all-time series, outscoring the Raiders 284-65, and the last QND win was in 1944.

The Raiders went on to defeat Jacksonville, ending a 16-game winning streak for the Crimsons, and then scored twice in the fourth quarter to win at Rushville. Springfield Cathedral scored twice in the first quarter and held on to ruin QND’s perfect season with a 14-7 setback, but the Raiders closed with a 61-7 thrashing of Galesburg Corpus Cristi. The top scorers on the team were right end Jim Bickhaus (8 TDs), right halfback Clarence Peter (7 TDs) and fullback Bob Bastean (6 TDs).